# Furries



## Mumzy (Feb 7, 2013)

I wanted to see if there were any furry fans here, and would like to discuss furries. I and others (online) would consider me a "furry" as a fan of furries. There's no true definition of "furry". I'm bad at explaining things so here's a wiki page about it:


> The word furry (adj, f'eree), has several meanings, dependent on the context in which it is used. Predominantly, it means "consisting of or resembling fur". It also pertains to an interest in anthropomorphic animals and/or mythological or imaginary creatures which possess human or superhuman capabilities.
> 
> The plural form of furry in all its contexts is furs or furries; the subjects of furry interest are also known as furries. Because people in the fandom tend to identify closely with their avatars (or fursonas), the word is often used to mean a group of furry characters in art or roleplay.
> 
> ...


Here is some good, classic examples of furry art:
http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs39/f/2008/319/1/1/Leap_Of_Faith_by_darknatasha.jpg
http://th09.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2013/003/9/4/____by_alexsyskoteyko-d5q9mr9.jpg
http://deviantfur.deviantart.com/gallery/?28877116#/d57wny6
(All of which are from DeviantArt)

No bullying, or bashing! Thanks!


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## CJBlazer (Feb 7, 2013)

I am a furry!!! Furryism is amzing but sometimes the reputation is poor. I am a black timber wolf furry and proud to be one. :)


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## shy ♡ (Feb 7, 2013)

Furries club, another furries club.


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## ultraviolet (Feb 7, 2013)

Pathos said:


> Furries club, another furries club.


(the first one is locked and from 2009)


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## Datura (Feb 10, 2013)

furries are pretty cool & harmless in general but otherkin need to gtfo


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## Tarvos (Feb 11, 2013)

What's the difference between a furry and otherkin?


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## goldenquagsire (Feb 11, 2013)

Tarvos said:


> What's the difference between a furry and otherkin?


afaik furries just want to fuck animals (sometimes fictional or sometimes real), otherkin believe they're animals stuck in a human body. they're skeezily appropriating trans* identities and discourse in order to be special snowflakes. and in doing so they make it harder for trans* people to be taken seriously. so, to quote Datura,


> otherkin need to gtfo


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## Vipera Magnifica (Feb 11, 2013)

goldenquagsire said:


> afaik furries just want to fuck animals


This is still a pretty dickish thing to say.


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## Worst Username Ever (Feb 11, 2013)

goldenquagsire said:


> afaik furries just want to fuck animals (sometimes fictional or sometimes real),


Actually it's just an interest in anthropomorphic animals, and doesn't need to be sexual (though yes, it is for some furries)
some furries just think that "oh, anthro animals are cool" and doesn't care about the sexual side of it.


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## goldenquagsire (Feb 11, 2013)

Worst Username Ever said:


> Actually it's just an interest in anthropomorphic animals, and doesn't need to be sexual (though yes, it is for some furries)
> some furries just think that "oh, anthro animals are cool" and doesn't care about the sexual side of it.


oic, i always thought 'furry' was specifically a fetish thing and there wasn't really a term for people who just like anthro art (which i'll admit can look pretty cool). you learn something new every day.


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## Worst Username Ever (Feb 11, 2013)

Yeah, some people have a furry fetish but others just like the art/idea of anthro animals. "Furry" is the general term for everything related to that.


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## Vipera Magnifica (Feb 11, 2013)

Yeah, the thing with the furry "fandom" is, while the concept behind it is pretty harmless, it is a _very_ large fandom, and there are certain subsets of the fandom that give it a very bad image. (Also see: bronies, sonic fans, every other fandom).


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## Minish (Feb 11, 2013)

Pretty sure there are otherkin who are completely harmless. (idk if they _aren't_ appropriating trans* narratives then, like, whatever. I feel like it's possible)

people have different ways of dealing with mental illness and/or shit going on in their lives for one thing. automatically judging otherkin seems a pretty short-sighted thing to do


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## Murkrow (Feb 11, 2013)

I find it kind of weird that they were brought up just to be complained about in a thread that wasn't really talking about them specifically in the first place.

Yes, yes, I know I can't talk after I massively derailed that other thread into a discussion about grammar, but at least there were people doing things I didn't like present in that thread, which was about what you think about other people in the first place! That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!




As for the actual discussion. The art can be pretty cool I guess. I'll enjoy a good drawing of an anthro about as much as a human or animal of the same quality. I don't much like how there's a massive amount of hate for furries on the internet. I tend to wonder, if things like Starfox came out today, they would probably be avoided by people a lot more.

EDIT:


Vehement Mustelid said:


> Yeah, the thing with the furry "fandom" is, while the concept behind it is pretty harmless, it is a _very_ large fandom, and there are certain subsets of the fandom that give it a very bad image. (Also see: bronies, sonic fans, every other fandom).


OKAY FINE I'LL GO OFF TOPIC AGAIN. (sorry :( ) I'm really really curious -  what is it that's so terrible about the Sonic fandom? Maybe I don't visit the right websites but just like Twilight and Justin Bieber fans, I've seen people complain about them a _lot_, but I've never actually come across a fan of them that was annoying about it.


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## Byrus (Feb 11, 2013)

Actually, yeah, otherkin have a real habit of appropriating trans issues. I really don't appreciate sex dysphoria being associated with thinking you were meant to be a beautiful majestic dragon or some shit. 

and they also have history of defending animal rapists and abusers and this is just a small example! The otherkin, therian and fictive community harbours TONS of unhealthy attitudes and horrid people and is just generally indefensible  



Photo Finish said:


> OKAY FINE I'LL GO OFF TOPIC AGAIN. (sorry :( ) I'm really really curious -  what is it that's so terrible about the Sonic fandom? Maybe I don't visit the right websites but just like Twilight and Justin Bieber fans, I've seen people complain about them a _lot_, but I've never actually come across a fan of them that was annoying about it.


 because they spam art sites with their terrible recolour "OCs" I guess?? I stopped paying attention to them ages ago to be honest


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## Spoon (Feb 11, 2013)

Byrus said:


> Actually, yeah, otherkin have a real habit of appropriating trans issues. I really don't appreciate sex dysphoria being associated with thinking you were meant to be a beautiful majestic dragon or some shit.
> 
> and they also have history of defending animal rapists and abusers and this is just a small example! The otherkin, therian and fictive community harbours TONS of unhealthy attitudes and horrid people and is just generally indefensible
> 
> because they spam art sites with their terrible recolour "OCs" I guess?? I stopped paying attention to them ages ago to be honest


Vocal minority, perhaps? It seems fairly easy to cherry pick instances of people who identify as furry/otherkin saying or doing dumb, gross, or creepy things, but that could done with really any hobby ever.


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## Byrus (Feb 11, 2013)

Spoon said:


> Vocal minority, perhaps? It seems fairly easy to cherry pick instances of people who identify as furry/otherkin saying or doing dumb, gross, or creepy things, but that could done with really any hobby ever.


no, this is a really common mindset. Did you see how many examples there were??

Also, is there REALLY anything defensible about a community that encourages people to think their fantasies of being a wolf, dragon or fairy dinosaur are perfectly healthy and discourages them to seek help? For God's sake, one person openly talked about how they growled like a wolf at customers on their job and when they complained about getting fired, otherkin flocked around her to cry otherkin discrimination. It was felkes on tumblr I think, I wish I could find the post, it was pretty cringe-worthy.


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## Minish (Feb 11, 2013)

Otherkin definitely on the whole tend to be creepy and appropriative, but many of them really can't be judged :V there are lots of people who feel so shit they identify as outside of their situation as possible bc that's the only way they can keep it mildly together, etc.

like yes the otherkin _community_ is super-gross and horrible and I steer waaaaaaaaaay clear of it but you just have to think for a single moment to imagine a harmless individual! I am gonna support people who decide things about themselves in order to feel okay

so like "otherkin need to gtfo" is not the kind of thing those people need to hear


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## Spoon (Feb 11, 2013)

Byrus said:


> no, this is a really common mindset. Did you see how many examples there were??
> 
> Also, is there REALLY anything defensible about a community that encourages people to think their fantasies of being a wolf, dragon or fairy dinosaur are perfectly healthy and discourages them to seek help? For God's sake, one person openly talked about how they growled like a wolf at customers on their job and when they complained about getting fired, otherkin flocked around her to cry otherkin discrimination. It was felkes on tumblr I think, I wish I could find the post, it was pretty cringe-worthy.


 Yeah, there's a lot of examples, but they're still cherry picked, which is kind of awful when you're gauging an entire community. I'm not really familiar with the otherkin community beyond "they're people who believe they're not," but as general rule, it's bad to judge a community by only certain examples.

 I agree that the otherkin mentality isn't perfectly healthy and people who find themselves thinking that way should probably look into why they're feeling that way, but treating them like the scum of the earth isn't really a great way to go about it.


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## Butterfree (Feb 11, 2013)

Can we not generalize massively about groups of people that aren't literally defined by whatever problem you're having with them, please? Yes, a lot of bad unhealthy stuff goes on in the otherkin community, but splitting off any group of people who hold weird beliefs and asserting that they're inherently awful is kind of terrible.

By all means criticize the trans* appropriation and the animal abuse and so on, but have some empathy; if people were doing this to a group you were part of, you probably wouldn't accept "But there are so many examples of people like you being [insert awfulness here]!!" as a justification for trying to plaster it on you too.


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## sovram (Feb 11, 2013)

Being queer, I'd like to chime in and say that in theory I really have no ill will towards otherkin! I'm basically a robot otherkin rofl :( I've dealt with feelings of being slightly off-human for most of my conscious life

It's totally reasonable to be upset about the appropriation and ... horrible behavior that is associated with the community, I don't fault you at all for that! I'm just really uncomfortable with the generalizations

(sorry for basically just copying Butterfree's post but I want to add my voice)

((off topic Butterfree I want to read your Community fanfic))


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## Ether's Bane (Feb 12, 2013)

Photo Finish said:


> OKAY FINE I'LL GO OFF TOPIC AGAIN. (sorry :( ) I'm really really curious -  what is it that's so terrible about the Sonic fandom? Maybe I don't visit the right websites but just like Twilight and Justin Bieber fans, I've seen people complain about them a _lot_, but I've never actually come across a fan of them that was annoying about it.


Byrus already explained it for the Sonic fandom, but as for the other two:

Go to Tumblr.

(By the way, One Direction fans are far worse than Bieber fans.)


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## Datura (Feb 12, 2013)

Butterfree said:


> Can we not generalize massively about groups of people that aren't literally defined by whatever problem you're having with them, please?


wow, NO

yeah there may be some people in a community who aren't horrible but that doesn't change the fact that they're participating in a community that does horrible things.

there are republicans who like gay people. i'm still going to call the republican party homophobic

there are redditors who aren't misogynistic racist pricks but i'm still going to make fun of how fucking shitty redditors are

there are bronies who don't appropriate & fetishize a cartoon meant for young girls, but they're still involved in a community that embraces middle-aged men jacking off to infantile pony porn (so bronies can gtfo too!!!)

when i speak of a group collectively ("otherkin need to gtfo") i am not referring to the few individuals who are harmless. *you know that.* i'm referring to the overwhelming majority who appropriate trans* issues and encourage other people to do the same. for people who hate semantics in debate you sure love to invoke them at every opportunity!

[deleted this part of the post because it's unnecessarily mean]


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## Minish (Feb 12, 2013)

Datura said:


> and really clear that you care more about hearing your own voice than speaking up for marginalized people.


and yet *you're the cis person acting personally victimised by the otherkin community*

_this isn't even about you_

like, you serious here?


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## Datura (Feb 12, 2013)

[...]


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## Minish (Feb 12, 2013)

Datura said:


> l m a o
> 
> kind of shitty of you to assume i'm cis


um? you have always said you're cis up to now, so......................... not really an assumption ...


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## Datura (Feb 12, 2013)

[things that didn't need to be said were once here]


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## ultraviolet (Feb 12, 2013)

Datura said:


> i rescinded that part of my post.
> 
> this frustration stems from more than just this thread. you've been really shitty when it doesn't have anything to do with trans* issues


so if someone's being shitty to you, discuss it privately with them (or someone else) like an adult instead of letting it fester for ages and then bringing it into a thread about something else entirely so you can get upset and feel justified about it? 

at this point it really just seems like you want people to just _be _angry in this thread so you can act like it's not your fault.


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## Butterfree (Feb 12, 2013)

This has nothing even to do with social justice; it has to do with not being a dick. Generally hostile comments, such as "X should gtfo" where X is a non-inherently-harmful group that many people self-identify as, create a negative, hostile atmosphere, and I got sick of that a while ago (in fact, in large part I got sick of it because of people being jerks about social justice). So _as I was saying_, you're welcome to criticize what goes on in the otherkin community to your heart's content, but you can't do it in an aggressively hostile, flamebaity way such as by making unexplained gross generalizations that are liable to get legitimately harmless people riled up and/or hurt. It's great you're working towards making things better for marginalized people, but it really shouldn't be too far out of your way to also observe basic forum etiquette while you do it.

If you feel Cirrus or whoever is being unnecessarily hostile to you or anyone at some point in the future, over social justice or anything else, please report it; I am genuinely trying to hammer down on people being jerks to each other on here.


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## Datura (Feb 12, 2013)

bringing this to PMs, back to your regularly scheduled discussion of furries


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## Jolty (Feb 12, 2013)

i thought i closed the tab to tumblr. weird.

on furries:
it took me ages to be ok with them as a whole, generally i don't really care what they do and i like some of the art and stuff
but those overly sexual ones, y'know the ones who take it too far, i do not like. they were what i first saw of furries and were the reason i had the "god i hate furries" mindset for so long.


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## Tarvos (Feb 12, 2013)

Okay, you lot have got me convinced that this type of thing is just something I don't want to touch with a ten-foot pole. Actually, I wouldn't want to touch it were I wearing a New Anti-Harmful Substance Wetsuit 3000. 

I'm gonna go with a furry - "someone who enjoys animals, sometimes fetishizes them"

Otherkin -  "someone who believes they are an animal trapped in the body of a human"

as simple, workable definitions and leave the rest of this thread alone. Curiosity goes a long way, but this is too much.


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